Rounds

This interesting name is of early medieval English origin, and derives from a nickname for someone considered to have a "rounded", plump, figure. The name derives from the Middle English and Old French "rond, rund", rotund, round, from the Latin "rotundus", a derivative of "rotare", turn, form "rota", wheel. The term was introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066. The surname from this source is first recorded at the beginning of the 13th Century (see below). One, Alecok Ronde appears in the 1246 Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire and an Alen Lerond in the 1377 Assize Court Rolls of Essex. The name is particularly well recorded in London Church Registers from the early 17th Century. In 1626 Dorothy daughter of William Round was christened in St. James's Church, Clerkenwell, London and on July 18th 1633 Benedictine Round and William Wright were married at St. Dunstan, Stepney. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph Rund (witness), which was dated 1202, in the "Fine Court Rolls of Essex", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.